The Secrets of This World and...
A coffin—put nicely, it's a bed that guarantees the deceased lifelong comfort; put a bit more flippantly, it's a box that holds a corpse.
And those coffins are usually buried in the ground, or when the location or environment doesn't allow it, cremated into bone ash and stored in a columbarium.
Well, depending on the culture, church basements often served as tombs, but this was abnormal. In other words, thousands—maybe tens of thousands—of coffins lined up in endless rows was anything but normal.
"Serena, is there any reason we need to keep scanning?"
Marie raised her alert level to maximum as she scanned the surroundings.
"Marie, did you roughly scan inside the coffins?"
"Impossible. It's like they've been painted over with ink—I can't see a thing. There's a 100% chance something ominous is inside."
This wasn't good. Or was it good? I couldn't be sure. There was a reason this was the Forbidden Area.
My current enemies were two.
The Demon King, and the fallen Grace.
Unless I dealt with those two somehow, I couldn't satisfy the prerequisite of going home.
And this place clearly held something that rubbed Grace the wrong way.
And if that something awkward was this sea of coffins—the contents inside them—then I had to check.
"One."
"Yes?"
"Let's open one and check."
"I object. And Serena, you're clearly abnormal today. Your words and actions deviate from your usual by about 75%."
Marie dropped her guard and looked at me as she voiced her opposition. Her whole demeanor screamed that she didn't want to be in this uncomfortable place.
But my words and actions are off?
How to put it—I felt strangely calm. Was it because my pussy and womb had quieted down? No, those two were still steeped in lust. Even my tits were pitifully begging to have their milk squeezed out.
But strangely, it didn't register. Was it because of fear? Or was today a special day?
Mar, no, like Se... no!
"Aigh, fuck!"
Thwack thwack!
I smacked my head at the sense of dissonance, like my thoughts had gone off-track. Anyway, the point was that today, of all days, I wasn't being swept away by lust and my head was working rationally.
Yeah, just like when I was a man. Like the state I was in before coming to this world.
I hadn't been a rational character, but I'd returned to a time when I at least knew how to use my head.
And once I recognized that, an impulse arose.
I wanted to open that coffin and check the contents—to confirm a means of cutting down Grace and the Demon King—and I slowly started walking.
"Sere...na?"
Marie watched Serena walking toward the coffins with glazed eyes.
No abnormalities in her mind. But abnormal symptoms! Must initiate physical action restraints!
Marie tried to stop Serena, who the system said was mentally normal but was clearly showing abnormal behavior.
"Can you wait just a moment? Sys, no, Marie♡"
"Eileithyia!?"
But that was thwarted when Ei interposed herself between Serena and Marie.
"Serena and the Goddess say they're curious, you know?"
"...Grace is no longer a goddess. You, who fell by her own hand, should know that best of all, shouldn't you?"
Marie realized she had no chance of winning against Ei. So she decided to keep the conversation going quickly and look for an opening.
"Fufu, ufufufufu♡ Grace? The one I serve isn't Grace, you know?"
"Eh?"
Marie couldn't believe it. If not Grace, then who in this world was a goddess?
And Marie felt a sense of dissonance from Ei. Having fallen into a demon, she should be carrying demonic energy, yet what she felt was a very dark, sticky, and alien divine power.
"Outside... is it?"
An energy that didn't exist in this world. And it had no connection to this Forbidden Area either. In other words, it was a perfect external energy. Marie reached the conclusion that Ei had made contact with one of the taboos—an Outer God.
"That's right, and stay quiet for a bit!"
Whirrr!
"Oh no!"
By the time she heard the sound, Marie was already bound by ropes made of black divine power tinged with pink.
There wasn't even the slightest sign of magic being cast?
Marie hadn't known the difference in specs would be this great. And she saw it—something like black smoke clinging to Serena's back.
"Serena! Come to your senses, don't open that coffin!"
Marie pleaded with Serena. That coffin must not be opened.
But why mustn't it be opened?
It wasn't the kind that threatened life. Nor the kind that brought catastrophe to the world. Just a kind of aversion—something she never wanted to see again.
Why am I thinking this?
Marie's pupils trembled. Something had changed in her. Could it be the alien divine power wrapping around her?
And while Marie agonized, Serena's hand touched the coffin.
Creeeak!
Serena opened the coffin's lid and looked inside. And inside was—
"Haaang... aaaah.... Hurry, hurry and make me into a grave statue!"
There was Grace, her limbs sealed, tentacles plunging deep♡ deep♡ deep♡ into her pussy, her pregnant belly and massive breasts jiggling.
More precisely, it wasn't actually inside—it was like a scene projected on a screen.
Everyone present shared the same question.
"Some have tentacles, some goblins, some vagrants, some the Demon King's army. In conclusion, they're all just scenes of Grace being violated. Of course, you can make contact with them, but that's all—you can't affect the larger flow."
Marie analyzed as she checked inside the coffins. She pointed to the coffins that merely held scenes of the goddess being violated—more precisely, illusions with a bit of substance—and spoke.
"Haa, and here I thought. Did someone who either hated Grace or loved her too much make this ridiculous thing?"
Ei judged that whoever had carefully crafted this horror-like place and stored such perverted contents wasn't in their right mind.
"A gif...t?"
Philotes spoke in a leisurely voice.
And at the word "gift," Marie's expression grew a little subtle.
It was subtle. And Marie thought so again.
Why so favorable? With power vast enough to make Grace look like nothing, able to smash the world for fun.
The favor of such a being—Marie feared it.
"Thank you!"
Ei bowed her waist with all her might, expressing gratitude to Philotes. Considering her fundamental nature, this wasn't work—it was a reward.
"What is it?"
Really? The condition was so low it was even suspicious.
If that's truly goodwill, there's no reason to refuse.
The option of "I won't get fucked!" doesn't exist.
"I'll do it."
At that moment, Serena accepted it without a shred of hesitation. But her gaze remained fixed on Grace inside the coffin.
Through a simple contract, Marie and I became connected to Philotes. Simply put, the moment we give birth, the child is transferred to the Children's Paradise.
Of course, Ei's filming proceeds as well.
But that wasn't important right now. I'd discovered something unexpected. And only I knew its true identity.
"Serena, first, safety in this location has been confirmed. And we can begin the body reset immediately. So..."
"Got it. Just do it next to me. That way we can prepare for any contingency, right?"
I pulled a large bed from my inventory and set it beside me. Ah, should I tell Marie?
"By the way, Marie, what do you think is the foundation of this world?"
"Mana and divine power. She's no longer a goddess, but since the goddess created us and the world, that remains unchanged."
An upright response.
As expected, I shouldn't say that the game is the foundation of this world.
"And once the body reset is complete, your class will return to Hero, and there's a high chance it'll interfere with the level restrictions."
"Yeah, got it. Then sleep well."
"Yes, then I'll begin the process."
After that, nothing much. Marie fell asleep as if her power had been switched off. And once Marie was asleep, I opened the coffin again and looked at Grace being fucked by tentacles.
No doubt about it. Even though I'd changed to 3D, I remembered this scene.
The so-called Tentacle Grave Statue Ending.
And I knew the true identity of these coffins.
In this world, only I and Grace—or perhaps Philotes—knew what these were.
This was—
"Save data... huh?"
The moment I spoke it aloud, I smiled.
If this was truly save data, then I... might be able to grow stronger.